Inkjet printers are widely used. These printers utilize cartridges containing ink. The ink is ejected from print head nozzles located on the cartridge, and laid onto paper or other media. The cartridge may contain ink of a single color, or may contain multiple inks of different colors to create color images. Used or spent inkjet cartridges may be refilled with ink and reused. The nozzles should be sealed whenever the cartridge is not installed in the printer in order to prevent the ink from drying and blocking the nozzles. In particular, the nozzles must be sealed when the cartridge is being refilled.
Several types of inkjet cartridge storage and seal containers are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,875 to Kleinhammer discloses an inkjet cartridge printhead seal comprising an elastomeric seal and a flexible sheet with an adhesive on one side which holds the seal compressed against an inkjet cartridge printhead nozzle plate.
However, the prior art does not teach a simplified, unitary inkjet cartridge printhead seal. For example, the printhead seal disclosed by Kleinhammer is comprised of several components, including a sheet of flexible material coated with an adhesive, a seal, a release liner, and a finger pull tab. Assembling the seal out of these components may be costly and time-consuming. Furthermore, in order to install Kleinhammer's printhead seal, it is necessary to remove the release liner, align the seal with the nozzle plate, and press the adhesive surface against the sides of the cartridge with enough force to generate a secure seal. This method is vulnerable to misalignment of the seal with the nozzle plate, and incomplete sealing of the adhesive to the cartridge. Any mistake in installation would lead to the ink spilling or drying when the cartridge is subsequently shipped or stored.
Accordingly, there is a need for a unitary, nearly universal inkjet printhead seal that is easy to manufacture and install.